Has the LA7 regained it's throne...

[Stang]

With it's rediculous thrust to wieght, the La7 can utterly dominate a spit even in a low speed fight.  Keep the fight going up and the spit has no prayer, even at stall speeds due to its rediculous acceleration.

Even if you do mess up, as Fester said, just point the nose down and you're outta there.

[crockett]

Originally posted by FALCONWING
HuH????

what spit can it outturn???

Look, i use the La-7 alot for attack and base defense.  There is no la-7 i worry about running into as i can beat them in my la-la.  (and for those out there who keep saying "the la-5 is not a threat"...the la-5 is a better turner than the la-7 and is only marginally slower)  

But spits/nikkis/a6ms/very skilled 38 pilot can outturn the same skill level pilot in a lala.  

So a la-7 is a better overall plane then the higher eny rides or low eny/big cannon birds that many "pickers' like (p-51, 190s, f4u-1c, tempest).  But it is the last plane i take up if i think im going to be doing slow ACM.

A LA7 should never be used as an Attack aircraft.. It's a limp wrist ride IMO and should be limited to base defense.  Fortunately most good sticks don't fly them so it's left in the hands of noobs in most cases, so the plane isn't as deadly as it "could" be.

The plane should be limited on it's fuel load to 50-75% so it could only be used as a defensive plane, which is what it was designed to be.  There was only 5,700 of them built in the war so it wasn't a heavy production plane like say the 15k P51D's .

In the hands of a good pilot the LA7 is one of the most deadly planes in the game, simply because it lacks any real drawbacks. The only reason it doesn't do better in the stats is because so many noobs fly it. Otherwise Im' sure it would easily dominate the kill stats.

Hell, if I see a raid coming to a base, I'll up a LA7 in a heart beat because I know it's the best plane to use, if I'm out numbered on the deck. If I want to clear out a bunch of vulchers again LA7 is the quickest plane at take off.
It was designed as a defensive fighter and it does that job extremely well, but it should be limited to that by it's fuel load-out IMO.

[Ghastly]

It was designed as a defensive fighter and it does that job extremely well, but it should be limited to that by it's fuel load-out IMO.

At a 2 to 1 multiplier and with no drop tank available, it pretty much is.  Unless you are planning a one way trip...

[crockett]

Originally posted by Ghastly
At a 2 to 1 multiplier and with no drop tank available, it pretty much is.  Unless you are planning a one way trip...

I see guys flying them to other bases and returing home quite often. You don't have to fly at full power there and back. It's far from a 1 way trip in this game.

[Lusche]

Originally posted by crockett
I see guys flying them to other bases and returing home quite often. You don't have to fly at full power there and back. It's far from a 1 way trip in this game.

But how often you see it? Depending on map layout, the sight of enemy La-7's over my own base is a quite rare one.

[crockett]

Originally posted by Lusche
But how often you see it? Depending on map layout, the sight of enemy La-7's over my own base is a quite rare one.

It just depends if it's a Bish school night or not..

[Stang]

You can throttle back the rpm's for most of the time except when you are fighting and get almost 40 minutes out of it.  Only a clueless noob flies around in a lala pedal to the medal.

[Tilt]

Originally posted by crockett

It was designed as a defensive fighter and it does that job extremely well, but it should be limited to that by it's fuel load-out IMO.

Like most VVS fighters of Soviet origin during the GPS it was an air superiority  fighter... designed to intercept and maintain air superiority over the battle field....

When not over the battle field its role was to hunt LW fighters and jabos or sometimes provide escort for for the likes of Il2's, IL10's, Petalovs and (some times)Tupalovs...... always close to or just behind enemy lines always at low to medium altitudes.

On the eastern front there was no (or only very little) war above 15k and VVS ac were designed to be  best at the altitudes where they were needed most.

[crockett]

Originally posted by Tilt
Like most VVS fighters of Soviet origin during the GPS it was an air superiority  fighter... designed to intercept and maintain air superiority over the battle field....

When not over the battle field its role was to hunt LW fighters and jabos or sometimes provide escort for for the likes of Il2's, IL10's, Petalovs and (some times)Tupalovs...... always close to or just behind enemy lines always at low to medium altitudes.

On the eastern front there was no (or only very little) war above 15k and VVS ac were designed to be  best at the altitudes where they were needed most.

That's kinda the point I'm getting at. It was designed as a low alt power house to be used over it's own territory in most cases. It was was very good at that job, I don't think anyone can argue with that.

In this game most of the other fighters are built for higher alt fighting to a certain degree. Yet because this is a game, most of the fighting takes place at much lower alts than in real life, which is why the LA7 is kind of a "uber plane" and is disliked by so many.

Just seems to me giving it shorter legs or perking it, would make things a bit more realistic granted we aren't' fighting at realistic alt in most cases.

[Anaxogoras]

I can't see the logic in perking a plane with rapidly declining performance above 9 or 10k ft.  If it didn't have a weakness, then sure, but the La-7 definitely has a weakness.

Other pilots not flying their aircraft to their strengths is hardly reason to punish those who do.  I admit that it's kind of an accident or luck that poor pilots instinctively fly the La-7 at its correct altitude, but it's up to you whether you reward them for it.  If I had a nickel for every time I see my countrymen blow all their e to join a gang-bang on a low altitude bad guy near the enemy base, only to see them all die to intercepting La-7s and SpitXVIs...

AH gameplay would change dramatically if we saw more level bombers with escort at altitudes of 20k ft and more, but most lack that kind of attention span.  The weapon is always there for those with patience.

[1Boner]

Ok, lets say the La7 is perked.

How long until the usual suspects start whining about another "uber" unperked plane?

What would the next one on the hit list be? (and there would be one)

Something from the 109 family maybe?

Then once that is perked maybe we could perk one of the yaks?

Been listening to this La7 whinefest for a while now and think it is unfounded.

The Lalas high alt performance is ok at best, has comparatively limited range and its guns really kinda suk.

But it is fast, so lets perk it.

Please.

What would the lowly "skill less dweeb" do to compete with the high scoring guys in their C-Hogs and Temps etc.

The La7 fits that nitch quite well.

Lets put more realistic perks on the planes that deserve it.

Lets see how many 200 perk  C-Hogs or 500 perk 262s we would see.

Or better yet--lets un-perk everything to REALLY level the playing field.

Someone said earlier in this post that the La7 doesn,t dominate the game ,but it helps level the playing field.   Well said.

I've been flying it for 2 sessions now, and really like it.

I don't have the perks to fly the "uber perked rides"

But I think it gives me a fighting chance against the alt monkeys in their perked planes.

And enough about "skills" already!

Some of us just fly this game for fun, and are here merely to be shot down for your enjoyment.


Enjoy,

Boner

[hubsonfire]

The La-7 is the bane of vulchers, and is capable of getting you back into a fight you've already lost before your killer can bug out, hence the complaints.

[DaddyAck]

I think most the complaints are from those that get suckered down low into a fight at altitudes where the La is best suited (field supression / low furballs).  Boom and zoom them to death and stay higher than them, there is the solution.

[TheDudeDVant]

Originally posted by FALCONWING
HuH????

what spit can it outturn???

Look, i use the La-7 alot for attack and base defense.  There is no la-7 i worry about running into as i can beat them in my la-la.  (and for those out there who keep saying "the la-5 is not a threat"...the la-5 is a better turner than the la-7 and is only marginally slower)  

But spits/nikkis/a6ms/very skilled 38 pilot can outturn the same skill level pilot in a lala.  

So a la-7 is a better overall plane then the higher eny rides or low eny/big cannon birds that many "pickers' like (p-51, 190s, f4u-1c, tempest).  But it is the last plane i take up if i think im going to be doing slow ACM.

La7 will beat any spit..

La7 will catch a co-alt/E diving p51

La7s 5min full throttle center tank can last over 12mins possibly closer to 15 and still make 300 on the deck..

La7 is the best turn and burn plane in the set..

If the La7 does not seem this way to you and you fly it often, you're not flying it right.

[TheDudeDVant]

Originally posted by DaddyAck
I think most the complaints are from those that get suckered down low into a fight at altitudes where the La is best suited (field supression / low furballs).  Boom and zoom them to death and stay higher than them, there is the solution.

A decent stick with the La7 gets boomed maybe once or twice max.. the next boom and the attacker would die in his zoom 8)